1. The Renaissance and Reformation (1300–1650)
Lesson 3 The Protestant Reformation

2. The Renaissance and Reformation (1300–1650)
Lesson 3 The Protestant Reformation
Learning Objectives
Summarize the factors that encouraged the Protestant Reformation.
Explain the impact of the printing press on the Reformation.
Analyze Martin Luther's role in shaping the Protestant Reformation.
Explain the teachings and impact of John Calvin.

3. The Renaissance and Reformation (1300–1650)
Lesson 3 The Protestant Reformation
Key Terms
indulgence
Martin Luther
Wittenberg,
Charles V
diet
John Calvin
predestination
Geneva
theocracy

4. Causes of the Reformation
During the Renaissance, Christians from all levels of society grew impatient with the corruption of the clergy and the worldliness of the Roman Catholic Church. In the words of one unhappy peasant, “Instead of saving the souls of the dead and sending them to Heaven, [the clergy] gorge themselves at banquets after funerals They are wicked wolves! They would like to devour us all, dead or alive.”

5. Causes of the Reformation
Abuses Within the Church- Beginning in the late Middle Ages, the Church had become increasingly caught up in worldly affairs. Popes competed with Italian princes for political power. They fought long wars to protect the Papal States against invasions by secular rulers. They plotted against powerful monarchs who tried to seize control of the Church within their lands.
Popes, like other Renaissance rulers, led lavish lives. When Leo X, a son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was elected pope, he is said to have exclaimed, “God has given us the papacy—let us enjoy it.” Like other Renaissance rulers, popes were patrons of the arts. They hired painters and sculptors to beautify churches and spent vast sums to rebuild the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome.
To finance such projects, the Church increased fees for services such as marriages and baptisms. Some clergy also promoted the sale of indulgences.
An indulgence was a type of pardon that lessened the time of punishment a soul faced for sins committed during a person's lifetime. In the Middle Ages, the Church had granted indulgences only for good deeds. By the late 1400s, however, indulgences could be bought with money or a gift to the Church.

6. Early Reformers
Even before the Protestant Reformation, a few religious thinkers had called for change. In England in the late 1300s, John Wycliffe attacked corruption in the Church. He also questioned some Church doctrines. He is probably best remembered for supporting the translation of the Bible into English. After his death, Wycliffe was condemned for heresy, but not before his ideas had spread to other lands.
A Czech priest and philosopher, John Hus, was a follower of Wycliffe. Like Wycliffe, Hus believed Christians should be allowed to read the Bible in their own language. He rejected some Church teachings, including indulgences. Put on trial for his activities, he was condemned and burned at the stake. His followers continued to operate in Eastern Europe, despite Church efforts to destroy the movement.

7. Causes of the Reformation
During the 1500s, European villages were busy places, with markets, artisan shops, and homes. The church was the center of village life.

8. Martin Luther's Protests Bring Change
Protests against the Church continued to grow. In 1517, these protests erupted into a full scale revolt. The man who triggered the revolt was a German monk and professor of theology named Martin Luther.

9. Martin Luther's Protests Bring Change
95 Theses Challenge the Church
In 1517, a German priest, Johann Tetzel, set up a pulpit on the outskirts of Wittenberg. With the approval of the pope, he sold indulgences to any Christian who contributed money for the rebuilding of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Rome. Tetzel claimed that purchase of these indulgences would assure entry into heaven not only for the buyers but for their dead relatives as well.
Luther was furious that people could pay for indulgences and think they were saved instead of seeking true repentance for their sins. Besides, only the rich could afford indulgences.
In response, Luther drew up a list of 95 Theses, or arguments, against indulgences. In the 95 Theses, he argued that indulgences had no basis in the Bible, that the pope had no authority to release souls from purgatory (where sinners atoned for their sins), and that Christians could be saved only through faith.
I have cast the die I will not reconcile myself to them [the Roman Catholic Church] for all eternity Let them condemn and burn all that belongs to me; in return I will do as much for them Now I no longer fear, and I am publishing a book in the German tongue about Christian reform, directed against the pope, in language as violent as if I were addressing the Antichrist.
—Martin Luther, 1520

10. Protestant Reformation
A Firestorm Begins - Almost overnight, copies of Luther’s 95 Theses were printed and distributed across Europe, where they stirred furious debate. The Church called on Luther to recant, or give up his views. Luther refused. 
Luther’s Teachings - First, he argued that salvation could be achieved through faith alone. He thus rejected the Church doctrine that good deeds were necessary for salvation. Second, Luther declared that the Bible was the sole source of religious truth. He denied other traditional authorities, such as Church councils or the pope.
Third, Luther rejected the idea that priests and the Church hierarchy had special powers. He talked, instead, of the “priesthood of all believers.” All Christians, he said, have equal access to God through faith and the Bible. Luther translated the Bible into the German vernacular so that ordinary people could study it. Every town, he said, should have a school where children could learn to read the Bible.

11. Luther’s Reforms Gain Support
The new printing presses spread Luther’s writings throughout Germany and Scandinavia, prompting him to declare that “printing was God’s highest act of grace.” Fiery preachers denounced Church abuses. By 1530, the Lutherans were using a new name, Protestant, for those who “protested” papal authority.
A number of German princes, however, embraced Lutheran beliefs for more selfish reasons. Some saw Lutheranism as a way to throw off the rule of both the Church and the Holy Roman emperor. Others welcomed a chance to seize valuable Church property in their territories. Still other Germans supported Luther because of feelings of national loyalty. They were tired of German money going to support churches and clergy in Italy.

12. Martin Luther's Protests Bring Change
Martin Luther nails his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg. The theses also contained an invitation to church leaders to debate Luther on the issues raised by his theses. The invitation was ignored.

13. The Peasants’ Revolt
Many peasants also took up Luther’s call for reform. They hoped to gain his support for social and economic change as well. In 1524, a Peasants’ Revolt erupted across Germany. The rebels demanded an end to serfdom and for other changes to ease their harsh lives. However, Luther strongly favored social order and respect for political authority. As the Peasants’ Revolt grew more violent, Luther denounced it. With his support, nobles suppressed the rebellion with great brutality, killing as many as 100,000 people and leaving thousands more homeless.

14. The Peace of Augsburg
During the 1530s and 1540s, Charles V tried to force Lutheran princes back into the Catholic Church, but with little success. Finally, after a number of brief wars, Charles and the princes reached a settlement. The Peace of Augsburg, signed in 1555, allowed each prince to decide which religion—Catholic or Lutheran—would be followed in his lands. Most northern German states chose Lutheranism. The southern German states remained largely Catholic.

15. John Calvin Challenges the Church
In the wake of Luther’s revolt against the Church, other reformers challenged Church authority. The most important was John Calvin, who lived in what is today Switzerland. Calvin had a razor-sharp mind, and his ideas had a profound effect on the direction of the Protestant Reformation.

16. John Calvin Challenges the Church
Calvin's Teachings -Calvin was born in France and trained as a priest and lawyer. In 1536, Calvin published the Institutes of the Christian Religion, which was widely read. In it, he set forth his religious beliefs. He also provided advice on how to organize and run a Protestant church.
Like Luther, Calvin believed that salvation was gained through faith alone. He, too, regarded the Bible as the only source of religious truth. But Calvin put forth a number of ideas of his own.
Calvin's Geneva - In 1541, Protestants in the city-state of Geneva in Switzerland asked Calvin to lead their community. In keeping with his teachings, Calvin set up a theocracy, or government run by church leaders.
Calvin’s followers in Geneva came to see themselves as a new “chosen people” entrusted by God to build a truly Christian society. Calvinists stressed hard work, discipline, thrift, honesty, and morality. Citizens faced fines or other harsher punishments for offenses such as fighting, swearing, laughing in church, or dancing. To many Protestants, Calvinist Geneva seemed like a model community.
Calvinist Ideas Spread - Germany, France, the Netherlands, England, and Scotland. This new challenge to the Roman Catholic Church set off bloody wars of religion across Europe.

17. John Calvin Challenges the Church
Analyze Charts Who served as head of the Lutheran Church? Why was this an important difference from the organization of the Catholic Church?

18. John Calvin Challenges the Church
The Calvinist belief in simplicity is reflected in the design of this Calvinist church in Nuremberg, Germany. No images of saints or religious leaders decorate the church, and the preacher's pulpit is the center of focus.

19. Quiz: Causes of the Reformation
Christian humanists contributed to the reformation because they
A. supported a powerful Roman Catholic Church that exerted influence in secular matters.
B. suggested that religion should be tailored to meet the needs of the people.
C. urged people to return to the values and practices of the early Christian church.
D. taught that the Bible should be interpreted by well-educated scholars who would then teach others.

20. Quiz: Martin Luther's Protests Bring Change
The Protestant Reformation swept through Northern Europe when Martin Luther, angered over the abuses within the Church, called for
A. the pope to establish a committee to end the abuses of the Catholic Church.
B. a rejection of the pope's authority, an end to church practices such as indulgences, and that ordinary people be able to read and study the Bible.
C. the peasants to revolt against the church and government, and that all Christians have equal and direct access to God.
D. the pope to ensure that all Christians have equal and direct access to God and that the clergy be allowed to marry.

21. Quiz: John Calvin Challenges the Church
Visiting Protestants saw John Calvin's theocracy in Geneva as a model community. They brought back his Calvinist ideas, which
A. inspired many Lutherans in Germany to incorporate his ideas and unite against the Catholic Church.
B. were fiercely rejected by French Lutherans, who waged a bloody war with French Calvinists.
C. gained a widespread and peaceful acceptance, particularly in Germany, France, and Scotland.
D. gained many followers, which sometimes resulted in bloody conflicts in places such as Germany and France.